April 15, 2007
President Chávez announces World Bank debt has been paid off

(TeleSur/Prensa Web RNV) - "President Hugo Chávez exclaimed. 'With this last payment (to the World Bank), paying off the debt that was almost 3 billion dollars in 1998, I can say to them today that we don't owe a cent of debt either to the International Monetary Fund or to the World Bank,'

President Hugo Chávez Frías, announced that Venezuela paid off the debt that it owed to the World Bank. 'We paid the last installment of the debt (...) to the World Bank.'

Thus he highlighted it during a ceremony that was held around the Palace of Miraflores, right at the heart of Caracas, to commemorate the 13th of April of 2002, the day when a civic-military rebellion restored the constitutional order in Venezuela.

'With this last payment (to the World Bank), paying off the debt that was almost 3 billion dollars in 1998, I can say to them today that we don't owe a cent of debt either to the International Monetary Fund or to the World Bank,' he exclaimed.

The Venezuelan head of state declared that he felt 'happy' about the end of this obligation, after reminding the audience that Venezuela helped the 'sister Republic of Argentina pay its debt to the International Monetary Fund.'

'I feel very happy that Venezuela has helped Argentina free itself from the International Monetary Fund. Argentina no longer owes anything to the IMF, among other things, thanks to the support of Venezuela,' he said.

'We have then transformed Venezuela, from an indebted and bound country that we were, to a modest but important country and financial center that supports other countries and peoples,' he added".